BMW Teases the Ultimate Smart Car

A series of Vision Vehicles will anticipate and respond to increasingly diverse mobility needsstarting with autonomy.

After 100 years of manufacturing the "ultimate driving machine," BMW is prepping for the next century with today's unveiling of the BMW Vision Next 100 Vehicle.

From the Munich Olympic Hall in Germany, the luxury vehicle maker today kicked off its Centenary World Tour by introducing the future of smart cars—or Vision Vehicles—starting with autonomy.

"In recent months and years, the greatest current trend in the automotive industry has become so widespread that it's no longer a question of 'if' but 'when': autonomous driving," a company press release said. "With it will come a series of technical challenges, but also a major opportunity for revolutionizing mobility."

Customers can already access a range of partially automated functions: The BMW 7 Series, for example, features Steering Assist and Lane Departure Warning. But enhanced automation "will enhance road safety and make traveling even more comfortable and efficient," BMW said, as passengers kick back and get work done, take a nap, or chat with friends and co-workers as the car drives itself.

BMW teased an artificial intelligence program, dubbed Companion, that sounds like the car maker's version of KITT. It will get to know the driver to better anticipate driving strategies so that it can eventually perform routine tasks automatically.

Inside the car, Companion is shaped like a large, cut gemstone and positioned in the center of the dashboard, just beneath the windscreen, BMW said. When the car is in Boost mode (below), the driver has control of the car and Companion is flat on the dashboard. In Ease mode, however, the car takes over and Companion emerges from the dashboard to display an interface on the windscreen.

"A signal light tells the driver that the car is ready for fully autonomous driving. For other road users, the Companion has a similar function, signalling through its own light as well as that of the vehicle that the car is operating in automated mode," BMW said. "In certain traffic situations, the Companion is in visual contact with other road users, helping pedestrians to cross the road by means of the green light gradient on the front of the vehicle."

Related

Today's event in Germany marks 100 years since BMW AG launched; the company is taking its show on the road with the BMW Group World Tour, a traveling exhibition with stops in Beijing (May 5-15), London (June 16-26), and Los Angeles (Oct. 11-16).

"Technology is going to make significant advances, opening up fantastic new possibilities that will allow us to offer the driver even more assistance for an even more intense driving experience," BMW Group Design head Adrian van Hooydonk said in a statement.

"The company has constantly developed and sometimes even reinvented itself," BMW AG Management Board Chairman Harald Krüger said in a statement. "As we move into the future, that's not going to change."

Stephanie began as a PCMag reporter in May 2012. She moved to New York City from Frederick, Md., where she worked for four years as a multimedia reporter at the second-largest daily newspaper in Maryland. She interned at Baltimore magazine and graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (in the town of Indiana, in the state of Pennsylvania) with a degree in journalism and mass communications.
More »